Sleep Tight
by Bologna121
Summary: Just a three-shot about Peter's role as a big brother during their first night at the Professor's home. FINALLY COMPLETE! Hurray!
1. With Lucy

Peter knew it was a bit irrational but he couldn't help but feel abandoned. He knew it was only for the best that they be moved away from Finchley. He knew there was no way his mother could board that train with him. He knew his father had to fight in the war, thus leaving his family alone and worried sick.

He knew it was his responsibility to care for the others.

His mother had left him with that request; that he, as the oldest, watch over his younger siblings, keep them out of trouble, and keep them safe.

Safe.

Well they were certainly safe now, finding themselves house guest in a mansion size abode. Rooms upon rooms were everywhere, simply calling to him and his siblings. Waiting to be explored. But certainly that could wait until tomorrow. He promised Lu and Ed (though reluctantly to the later) that their first full day at the Professor's house would be fun for all of them.

"You promise, Peter?" Lucy had asked skeptically .

Peter pulled a face of mock insult. "Lucy! Would I ever go back on my word?"

Lucy giggled after that, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. "No. Never. Unlike Eddy." It was meant to be a playful insult, Lucy would never intentionally hurt someone. Edmund, who had been leaning against the doorframe, having been ordered by his older sister to say goodnight to Lucy, stomped out with a malicious roll of his eyes. A few second later they heard him shout "And don't _ever_ call me Eddy, again!" A door slammed.

Peter, now officially beyond angry with his brother, made to stand up., but Lucy pulled him back down.

"Don't." She pleaded, near tears. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have called him that." A tear escaped. "That was Dad's nickname for him."

Peter scooted closer to his smallest sister, wrapping her up in his arms and resting his cheek against her brown hair. "It's alright, Lu. Never feel bad. Ed's just a little tense these days. Hush, now. Don't cry."

Lucy wiped her cheeks, still adorably cute considering how she was getting older. "Do you think Mummy's thinking about us now, Peter?"

"Wll of course, silly. I'm sure Mum's thinking about all of us. Especially _you." _ He punctuated the word by tweaking her nose, causing her to smile.

"Well, do you think Daddy's thinking of us as well?" She asked suddenly, hope sparkling in her eyes.

The dark truth was, Peter believed the only thing their father was thinking of was how to stay alive. But why tear sweet Lucy up like that?"

He gently pushed he down, back against her pillows. "Of course, angel. And never think otherwise." He leaned down, pressing a kiss against her right cheek, then left, and finally her nose.

"G'night, Peter!"

"'Night, Lucy."

"Sleep tight, ok?"

He brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face. Normally _he_ would be saying that to her, but Lucy had a habit of trying to make everyone feel happier and loved, so it fit that she would be the one saying it in this case.

"I will, Lu. I will."

With that he walked out, headed for Edmund.


	2. With Susan

**Possibly my favorite chapter. I was gonna do Peter and Edmund's chapter next, but I started this one first and couldn't stop. So I am officially changing my order. **

With Susan

It was while he was on his way from his and Edmund's room that he heard it. The lullaby his mother used to sing for all of her children when they had trouble sleeping. It was a low, sweet melody that any of them could recognize anywhere, and the voice singing it this time sang it beautifully.

Peter followed the melody, knowing in his heart where it would lead him.

Stepping once again into the girls' room, he found his eldest sister sitting on her bed, brushing her hair with their mother's delicate, silver hairbrush, given to her on her most recent birthday. Susan hardly ever used it, worried that she would break it. She once said, jokingly, "Have you _seen _all the tangles in my hair after I come home from school? Honestly…a rake would be more appropriate."

Yet here she sat, guiding the glinting silver object through her hair. Slowly. Carefully.

And he knew something was wrong.

Even as he sat down next to her she continued her singing. Never missing a word. Never changing pitch or note. She never considered herself a singer, but for this song…

She ended on a soft note and swallowed, never ceasing her strokes, never looking at him. "Is there something you wanted?" she asked, not unkindly but softly. He said nothing in response, only continued to sit there and watch the silver brush making its way down her silky brown hair. Tentatively waiting for her to explode.

Her lower lip began trembling. She sat there with unsteady hands as she brushed her hair. A heart wrenching sob came out, and she bent over and let the tears fall, crying noiselessly, their mother's hair brush on the floor.

Peter bent over and picked it up, placing it on his lap as he reached out to pull Susan closer to him. Still crying softly, she ducked her head under his chin. They simply sat there like that; neither knowing how much time had passed. He rocked her back and forth repeatedly until her breathing evened. Slowly she leaned back, lifting her eyes to meet his, and gave him a watery smile.

"Sorry about…this." She gestured weakly to her face. "But considering how things are going these days I guess you're used to it by now, huh?" She ducked her head again to hide the second 

bout of tears that threatened to fall. But almost immediately he lifted her chin to meet his gaze again.

"I've seen you cry before, Susan." He said softly. Then he sighed. "It's nothing to be ashamed of." The reason for her tears was certainly understandable. She and her mother had been very close all her life, a mother-daughter bond that was almost impossible to break. And she had always been loved by her father, who adored both her and Lucy and spoiled them to no end whenever the opportunity presented itself.

She smiled a small smile, which he returned. "Besides," he said a mischievous glint in his eye now, "you used to cry over _everything_ when we were little." She raised her eyebrows at him.

He laughed. "Honestly, Su. Bugs. Monsters under the bed. And all I had to do was look at you and stick out my tongue and you would bawl for _hours and hours_." She gave a cry of mock indignation and made to hit him, but he got up and danced out of her reach, the brush once again falling to the floor. Susan leaned over and picked it up, beginning to brush her hair once more. "We seem to have slightly different takes on the past, young mister Pevensie." She giggled. "It was _you _who was afraid of the monsters under the bed."

Peter rolled his eyes at his sister, walking back toward her and sitting on the bed beside her again. "I was 4."

"All the same…"

He looked over at her again. The sibling he has known the longest. Though not as jubilant as Lucy, nor as quickly witty as Edmund, or even as headstrong as Peter every day of her life, she was still the flower of the family. Beautiful, intelligent, and caring. They had been close as children, and had maintained their relationship even with the coming of the other two siblings. Recently, it had seemed, the he and his sister had done more arguing than cooperating, and kink in their friendship he knew would take time to work out. Still, no matter how much she snapped and yelled at him, he loved her endlessly all the same.

It was while he was thinking over this that he gently tugged their mother's hairbrush out of her hand and, smiling at her questioning look, began to brush her hair for her. Her smile only grew. "If Edmund came in here, he'd laugh at you." She reminded him.

"And I'd teach him a lesson. Easily dealt with." He grinned, continuing his soft strokes.

She sighed. "I don't know what's going on with him these days. It really upsets me."

"Don't let him get to you, Su. He'll fix himself eventually." At least he certainly hoped so.

Minutes passed, with them just like that. Susan yawned at some point, and Peter put down the brush.

"Someone's tired, I think." He smirked, earning a small slap on his chest from his sister as she leaned back on her bed, pulling the covers back and scooting underneath them. He stood up, leaned over, and gave Susan and a kiss on the cheek. "'Night, Susan."

"Goodnight, Peter."

As he made to walk out of the door she called out, "And don't you dare walk into your room noisily to wake Edmund up, understood?"

He grinned.

"Whatever you say, Susan." Goodness, she knew him so well.

**Like it? Hate it? Anything you wanna see next? I am indeed open to suggestions. Love you guys…and review!**


	3. With Edmund

**Ok. Soooooo….Edmund is NOT my favorite character to write. That's why it took me so long to update. SORRY!!!!! Not to say that I hate him….not at all. I think he's pretty awesome. But it was hard to write…**

**Just to warn you, it's gonna seem as if Edmund's a real jerk for a lot of this chapter. But trust me…I do show a softer side of him. **

He can remember, very clearly, a time when Edmund wasn't dark, bitter, and sarcastic.

Back in those days he used to play with baby Lucy for hours and hours, going to great lengths just to see her adorably huge, toothless smile. Blocks, dolls, funny faces. Nothing was too "babyish" for Edmund if it got his little sister to smile.

Sliding down to the floor on the wall in front of their room, he remembers all the countless times Edmund tried to get Lucy to say his name…

"_C'mon, Lu. Just like this. Ed-mund."_

_Lucy merely scrunched up her nose and reached for the doll Edmund had in his hand. _

_He passed it over willingly. "It's not really that hard, little Lucy. How about just 'Ed'? Can you say 'Ed'?" he asked with exaggerated slowness. _

_Lucy giggled. _

"_No? Ugh. C'mon…you can say Pete! Why can't you say my name, too?" He sighed deeply and flopped on the couch, lying on his back and staring at the ceiling. _

_Lucy, noticing her playmate had left without her consent, ran over to him and grabbed his cheeks. "ED!" she exclaimed, then tottered off, leaving Edmund with a ridiculously large smile on his face._

But, oh how drastically those feelings changed. Now, every smile Lucy blessed him with, he returned with a scowl.

The door to the room suddenly swung open as Edmund stepped out, pausing abruptly at the sight of his older brother sprawled on the floor. A moment of uncomfortable silence passed between the two, both feeling as if they should say something kind or reassuring to the other but neither knowing how to say it. Or if they really wanted to. It seemed as if, lately, bitterness was always chosen before kindness, and that night was no exception.

"Did you fall, oh great one?" Edmund sneered, taking in Peter's lanky form leaning against the wall with his legs kicked out disorderly in front of him.

He looks at his Edmund and remembers the days when only Susan and Peter could read. Edmund would always get so frustrated that Peter knew the meaning behind all of the pretty pictures and he couldn't. Peter would always laugh good naturedly at Edmund's put out face and ruffle his hair. But Susan would take pity…

"_Come here you," she said with a smile, beckoning her dark haired brother to come over and sit on her lap. Edmund obeyed warily, slowly making his way to his sister, with his hands playing nervously behind his back. When he climbed on her lap, she adjusted the large book so that it didn't squash his legs. _

"_Would you like to read with me, Ed?"_

_Edmund's freckled face broke into a smile. "Yes, please" he said excitedly, and promptly quieted, angling himself so that he could both see the pictures of the book and also watch Susan's lips form the words that he knew they went with. It was moments like these that Susan and Edmund grew closer, their calm and quiet mannerisms contrasting with the bright exuberance of the other two. _

Alas, every time Susan even suggested reading aloud as a family, she was met with a scoff.

"No I did not _fall_, Edmund. Why would I have simply _fallen_ against the wall? Goodness, and they call you smart at school?" Peter said, knowing in his heart that the jab had been unnecessary and immature.

Edmund's face darkened with anger. And finally Peter remembers the days where he and Edmund used to be each others' best friends.

"_But Mum, I have to go see the races! Everyone's going to be there!" a ten-year-old Edmund whined pitifully. _

"_And for the last time, dear, you can't go if no one is going to watch you. Susan does not want to go…she's staying at home with Lucy." Mrs. Pevensie gave her son an apologetic smile and continued cooking lunch for the family. _

"_And Peter?" Edmund asked desperately. _

"_You already know that your brother is going with his friends, Edmund. Now that's enough. End of discussion." His mother snapped in exasperation. Edmund's face fell and he looked at his brother, trying to hold his disappointed tears back. _

"_Well, have fun Peter." He smiled sadly. _

_Peter, who had been waiting by the door for his classmates James and Christopher to arrive, looked down at his brother for a minute. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut short when the door bell rang. Opening it, he saw his friends and the shook hands excitedly. _

"_Ready for the race, Pete?" Christopher asked, grinning. "It's going to be so much fun!" _

"_Yeah…to bad the squirt here is too young." James stated, smirking at Edmund. "Guess you're just gonna have to hear about it when we get back!" _

_Edmund turned away quickly and went upstairs to his room. Soon after, he heard Peter come in. _

_The boy wiped his eyes. "Thought you left already?" _

_Peter grinned and then turned away to start digging through Edmund's closet. _

"_Pete?" Edmund asked nervously. "What are you-"_

_Peter laughed kindly. "Don't you have anything decent to wear, Ed? Come on now….you're coming to the races with me."_

But those days were gone. The ages, attitudes, and situations of all four of them had changed. And it is very much evident by the looks the two brothers exchange. Edmund turns on his heel and marches back into the room, slamming the door as he goes. All Peter can do is watch him leave.

"Sleep tight, Edmund." Peter mutters regretfully.

And later that night, when Peter finally crawls into bed and settles for sleep, he swears he hears Edmund whisper the same to him.


End file.
